Queensland Arts Showcase Program round 4 recipients

7 Feb 2024

Communities from Currumbin to Cairns and Clermont will enjoy new arts and cultural experiences, performances and exhibitions with Queensland Government investment of $1,261,141 supporting 21 diverse and engaging projects across the state.

Queensland Arts Showcase Program (QASP) round 4 successful recipients:

• Monument Digital Pty Ltd (trading as Assembly of Elephants) - $73,273 over two years (plus $29,137 Industry Placement funding) to support the 2024 creative development and 2025 presentation of The Rowan's Story Project, a 45-minute play for a youth audience exploring student workshop participants’ responses to gender bias and violence.
• Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra - $70,000 (plus $10,000 to support new live or recorded music by Queensland-based composers, musicians or librettists) to develop audiences through concerts and education programs in Brisbane, Caloundra and Noosa, and expanding the company’s regional touring to include Gympie, Maryborough and Bundaberg. The project includes a newly commissioned premiere by Queensland composer Nicole Murphy, a new educational format and digital releases.
• Libby Myers - $15,000 towards commissioning/creating, performing and recording POSTCARDS: a new Australian song-cycle exploring themes of ‘home’ through new texts by Australian writers Aunty Delmae Barton, Megan Steller, Han Readon-Smith, Mathew Klotz and Kezia Yap.
• LC Fa'alafi & LK Shelton (trading as Polytoxic) - $61,775 to develop DANGEROUS GOODS 2.0, a genre-defying evening of entertainment that will increase the visibility of diverse artists and innovate the cabaret artform using live-feed and audience interactivity.
• Leah King-Smith – $58,819 to support Rhythm wRites at QUT Art Museum, a First Nations collaborative skills-sharing project that will culminate in a major immersive exhibition. The project brings together five leading Indigenous cross-disciplinary advisors and seven collaborators, incorporating cutting-edge technology and production to establish new modes of immersive storytelling; and creating an educational resource through archiving of the project.
• Southern Cross Soloists - $63,300 (plus $22,500 Industry Placement funding) for the 2024 activities of the Southern Cross Soloists (SXS) Didgeridoo Commissioning Project, supporting the commissioning and performance of new works for didgeridoo soloist Chris Williams and SXS, contributing to a library of new music with a distinctly Australian sound to showcase our unique arts practices at the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.
• Proudfoot Productions - $70,000 (plus $10,000 to support new live or recorded music by Queensland-based composers, musicians or librettists and a further $60,000 Industry Placement funding) to support the continued development and presentation of Proudfoot and Friends, an interactive live stage musical for childrens featuring original songs, local First Nations dancers, state-of-the-art digital elements and choreographed animated projections. The funds will further support growth of the Proudfoot and Friends brand, through development of a portable touring kit and enhanced musical production through creation of an EP and video clips.
• Griffith Review - $35,438 towards the Queensland Stories project, providing professional development and industry experience for First Nations editors working alongside the Griffith Review editorial team to commission, develop, publish and promote 10 new works by First Nations writers in print and online.
• Elizabeth Willing - $22,050 towards Kitchen Studio, an immersive dining room installation, open to viewers during the day, and host to sensory performances in the evenings. The performance proposes non-traditional ways to explore edible materials. With immersive and interactive experiences, the artist subtly unpacks what we might consider ‘food’ in the contemporary western diet.
• Flotsam Arts Inc - $57,349 towards Flotsam Festival, a two-week annual photography and film festival that explores coastal culture through pop-up exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, digital projection, outdoor film nights and live music collaborations.
• Australian Dance Council, Ausdance (QLD) Inc - $39,210 towards the Queensland Dance Education Conference 2024, a two-day conference delivering live, online and digital professional development, strategies and resources to Queensland dance educators and independent dance teachers at the Thomas Dixon Centre in May 2024.
• Centre for Australasian Theatre - $70,000 (plus $10,000 to support new live or recorded music by Queensland-based composers, musicians or librettists) towards the development and premiere of The Great Travelling Médecin Show, a new intercultural performance specifically for regional and national touring commissioned by Local Giants North Queensland (Topology, RASN, PAC, Performing Lines).
• Sara Isherwood - $70,000 towards development and a community showcase presentation of Chinese Garden (working title), an exciting new multi-sensory theatrical work based on true stories and family history about remote area Chinese market gardeners and cooks in Queensland.
• Studio1 - $69,805 towards The Workroom Program, a professional development, capacity building and residency program for independent dance and physical theatre artists in South East Queensland, supporting sustainable and adaptable careers and encouraging collective change through peer-to-peer learning.
• Grey Gum Productions - $70,000 (plus $10,000 to support new live or recorded music by Queensland-based composers, musicians or librettists) towards the world premiere QPAC season of Black Box, a new musical telling the true story of the Australian inventor of the black box flight recorder. The work uses live actors and recorded voices and sound design to innovate the form.
• Abbey Museum of Art & Archaeology - $74,220 develop and present a sculptural a pcknowledgment of Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) Country designed by Lyndon Davis, to be placed at the entrance to the museum’s new art gallery and cafe
• The Condensery, Somerset Regional Council - $25,410 towards an exhibition and performances at The Condensery, displaying new paintings and supporting performances of poetry and music by Lionel Fogarty, one of Australia’s most important living poets, artists and activists.
• Georgina Pinn - $73,562 towards FLOW, an immersive art installation exploring the layers of human emotion through the metaphorical lens of water, using projection mapping, gesture-driven generative animation, sound and a custom-built machine-learning sensory system that responds to the audience's mood and emotion.
• The Joy Dispensary - $41,000 towards creative development of Own Your Beat: Multi-Arts Wellbeing Programs. Catering to diverse abilities, ages, backgrounds and needs, these creative-intervention experiences will integrate musical, rhythmic, movement and play-based artforms, specifically designed to promote positive mental health and wellbeing.
• Wildheart Band PTY LTD - $27,821 towards the recording, mixing, and mastering of an 8-track Wildheart EP release and the creation of associated music video/s, as well as the promotional and touring of the album. Through the new music, Wildheart will advocate for conversation and action on mental health, social injustice, and discrimination.
• Central Highlands Music Festival Inc. - $21,472 towards the Central Highlands Festival of Bands to present a series of wind band and choir workshops along with school and community performances, culminating in a gala concert.